Harry Potter studio tour or Oxford or both

We went with our 28 year old son this past summer. He grew up reading the books and watching the movies and is a total HP fan. Public transit was easy--just be sure to get the express train and not the one that makes a whole bunch of stops. It was easy enough to figure out by looking at the electronic boards at the station, although I had already looked online ahead of time to have an idea of when the express trains were scheduled.

We all enjoyed the studio tour. We spent about 5 hours there. He was happy to be able to purchase a wand for his daughter, which included a personalized invitation to attend Hogwarts. That being said, it wasn't his favorite thing we did in London. Yes, he enjoyed it very much, but he enjoyed the Tower of London more. I am glad we went, because if we hadn't, we all would have arrived home and said, "We should have gone." I would say if he is a fan, definitely go.

My 40-year old daughter and I did the studio tour in August. We enjoyed Harry Potter when she was younger but are not super fans. We loved the tour. Allow plenty of time. We spent 4.5 hours there and could have used a little more time, but they were closing.

The sets are magical and you also learn a lot about how they made the movies.

We didn’t go to Oxford but we did a walking tour of HP sites in London. The studio was far better.

Both Oxford and the studio tour are great days - but they are not at all the same thing. If you have the days, do both. Just not on the same day…..

Take the train from London Euston station to Watford Junction to get to the studio. It's easy. Be sure to take the faster train.
You can use your Oyster cards or credit cards to tap in/tap out to pay for the train fare.
You really can't get there directly from Paddington station.

I am not much of a HP fan, but I have been to the studio three times now and really enjoy it. Its quite wonderful and easy to get to by train on your own. A purple double decker shuttle bus will take you from the train station to the HP studios. It just waits outside. Watch for school holidays in July (usually around the 15th onward) as the studio will get fully booked months in advance. Book as soon as you know dates. We usually spend about 4 hours there. I also enjoyed Christ Church College in Oxford, but totally different experience. Try to do both if you can.

I think you know that I took my grandkids there in late March of last year, and they loved it. They had a fantastic time and are big Harry Potter fans, but I also really enjoyed it a lot as well. I probably would not have gone to my own, but I thought it was well worth the trip. For what it's worth, I'm also a Harry Potter fan and loved the books.

I do love Oxford as well, but it is nothing like the studio tour. You're really just seeing some of the places where it was filmed, and that's pretty cool, but it's nothing like seeing how they created this film and seeing all the special effects. It really was amazing.

With regards to getting there, here is a section from my trip report that might help. As derek said above, make sure you take the fast train:

To get there, we took the Victoria line to Euston Station where we caught a train to Watford Junction. Unfortunately, instead of boarding one of the express trains at Euston, we mistakenly got on the Lioness Overland train with 17 stops—and it stops at every single one. So instead of a 20 minute ride, ours lasted 45 excruciatingly long minutes. I was worried about getting there on time, as the tickets said we HAD to arrive 15 minutes early.

We finally made it to Watford Junction, where we were to get the Warner Bros. shuttle bus to the studio. It came pretty quickly, but then we sat for 15 minutes waiting for others to get on. My panic eased when I talked to an employee about our 10 am time slot, and he said not to worry, because they allow extra time for everyone.

Starting from Paddington I think I would take the Bakerloo line tube 6 stops to Willesden Junction or 9 stops to Wembley Central or 13 stops to the end of the line at Harrow and Wealdstone (15, 22 and 32 minutes respectively).

From all three there is the slow train to Watford Junction taking 36, 29 and 20 minutes respectively, every 15 minutes.

From Harrow and Wealdstone there are also 4 fast trains an hour to Watford Junction taking 9 minutes (usually with a final destination of Tring or Milton Keynes Central).

To Euston it is maybe 10 minutes to Euston Square on the tube, allow 10 minutes to walk down the road to Euston and find your train, then the train journey, so it is not that much slower (10 to 20 minutes) to take the Bakerloo line route.

It is rather slower but every 18 minutes TfL Bus #258 runs from Harrow and Wealdstone station to Watford Junction station taking 35 to 40 minutes for a normal London bus fare of £1.75.